Worth the Drive (33 page)

Darío
was waiting for the answer to this as well. Not sharing a room until three days ago, he hadn’t been a part of Katie’s morning rituals. She could have been puking her guts out every morning and
Darío
wouldn’t have known. And he didn’t think she’d complain about it either. Every part of this pregnancy was a miracle to her.

Katie shook her head, then dipped her head in concession. “Well, the only thing is the smell of freshly squeezed toothpaste nearly makes me lose it. Every morning I put
it
on my toothbrush then run out of the bathroom for a few minutes for the smell to go away or I gag.”

Franny nodded her head in understanding. “One of my friends had to change her deodorant while she was pregnant. She’d been wearing the same brand her entire adult life and then as soon as
she
was pregnant the stuff made her retch.”

Franny sat back, crossed her hands across her chest, matching Binky who had not moved, and pointedly looked at
Darío
as she asked, “So. What are your guys’ plans?” She had used plural, but
Darío
felt the question was directed to him. Franny’s keen eyes were certainly pinning him down. Anyone else he would have told to piss off, but Franny…well, Franny was not a woman you told to mind her own business.

“I’
ve asked Katie – ”

“We’re working that out,” Katie interrupted him.

He felt disappointment creeping down his back and then it was replaced by Katie’s soft hand, rubbing up and down his spine, t
hen resting on his arm. “There are
lots of logistics to figure out. Where we’ll live after the baby. How often the baby and I will travel with
Darío
. I have a house in the U.P., he has one in Spain. All that stuff needs to be worked out.”

Franny nodded, seemingly accepting Katie’s answer.

Darío
was not sure he did. He was thrilled that Katie spoke of their future togethe
r with no qualms, but she didn’
t mention marriage,
had
in fact cut him off knowing full well he was going to mention it.

But, he had agreed not to push her on it. On anything, really. And she’d willingly told Franny that they’d be together as a family, they were just working out the
details.
Logistics,
she
called them.

It felt to
Darío
that more than geographical details needed to be settled between them, but he finished his dinner in silence, happy, and looking forward to being alone with Katie again.

Akron went well. On the course, anyway. Off the course, Akron went very
,
very well.

Darío
didn’t come near his course record, but had a respect
able showing placing in the top
ten again. He had all but locked up being eligible for the Tour Championship, the last tournament of the season, played in November. Only the top thirty players from the money list got in.

They moved on to Connecticut. He skipped his practice round on Tuesday and they spent the entire day in bed
.

Their next stop would be Boston and then
Darío
wouldn’t play in the US again until the Tour Championship, electing to skip the lesser tournaments that filled the schedule from September to November. That would be the end of the trial period that they’d discussed when they’d come to their agreement of Katie traveling with
Darío
.

Katie wasn’t sure what would happen after Boston. Would they head to the U.P.? Finally tell her parents about the baby? Would
Darío
want to head back to Spain? She knew from Binky that was what he usually did.

She wasn’t sure what to suggest. She only knew she didn’t want to be away from him now that they were sharing a bed.

More than a bed. Now that they were sharing the beginning of a life together.

In Connecticut,
Darío
had his usual Thursday
night dinner with Binky. Katie
elected to stay at the hotel and get some work done on her newest article.
Darío
was going to bring her back a salad from wherever he and Binky ended up for dinner. Maybe he’d forget the milk.

Her latest article was a feature on one of the players whose child was autistic. The nomadic life of a family on the road posed some unique challenges for the player, his wife and their children. It was a heartbreaking piece on the struggle these parents felt about being on the road or
not
being together. The player was one who annually struggled to keep his Tour card.

Their story tugged at Katie and she assumed it would also tug at readers’ hearts.

She put the finishing touches
on
the piece
and
jotted herself a couple of notes on things she wanted to doub
le check with the player’s wife
as well as the call she wanted to make to an autism center.

She applauded her timing as
Darío
walked in the hotel room just as she put her laptop away and sat down on the small couch in the living area of the room.

“How was dinner? Did you guys figure out the game plan for tomorrow?” she asked. Though
Darío
’s round today of five under par wouldn’t need much tinkering with.

He nodded. “
Sí
. I won’t do too much differently, but will go with my three wood instead of driver on the fifth hole.”

Katie
nodded agreeing
with his and Binky’s decision.

Darío
brought Katie back the salad she’d requested as well as the dreaded milk she’d force herself to drink
.
He leaned over and gave her a quick kiss. It didn’t satisfy either of them and he zeroed in for a longer, hungrier taste.

Finally he broke away, much to her disappointment, and pointing to the food, said, “Eat.”

She noticed he also had a small package, which he tossed to her as he set out her food on the coffee table in front of her. The bag landed softly on her lap and she looked up at
Darío
questioningly.

“For you,” he said. “Well, actually, for the both of us, but you can have the first look.” He seemed embarrassed and Katie gave him a small smile, which he returned with a shrug and a
n
“it’s nothing” brush of his hand.

Curious, she opened the package to find a baby name book. Touched by his thoughtfulness, she decided not to mention that she already had this same version at home as well as three other baby name books all ragged-eared from use.

He didn’t need to know that. Besides, the names she and Ron had
tossed around for years wouldn’
t necessarily be the names she and
Darío
would choose. It seemed almost tacky to her to consider naming
Darío
’s child a name she and Ron had decided on. Somehow, she didn’t think
Darío
would go for Ron Jr.

Instead, she thanked him. She patted the seat beside her on the couch and started to prepare her dinner. “Tell me what names you like while I eat,” she said.

He sat beside her, took her hair and brought it to the back of her neck and stroked it down her back. She loved it when he did that. It felt both comforting and sexy.

“I don’t really have any idea about names,” he said.

“You’ve never thought about what you’d like to name a child?” she asked as she poured dressing on her salad and took the plastic knife and fork out of their cellophane wrap. She’d been thinking about it since she was fourteen.

He shook his head no.

“Well, we could do the traditional route,” she said, “something Biblical or a family name.”

He seemed to think that over. “We could do that. Is there a family name that you would like?” he asked.

She chuckled. “I come from a Finnish family, remember? There aren’t too many Finnish first names that would go well with
Luna
. I’d never saddle a son with Urho
Luna
.”

He smiled at the thought and she warmed at the sight of his lips turned up in that sly way. “Perhaps not,” he conceded.

“What about you? Any family names you want to continue down the line.” The moment she saw his smile fade to a grim line she regretted her words. He was probably thinking about his father – or lack of one. Quickly trying to bring back the lighter moment, she said, “Or, we could go the celebrity route.
You are, after all a celebrity.” At
his raised brows she added, “At least in the golfing world.”

“What, exactly, is the celebrity way of naming a child?”

“Sometimes an inanimate object, like Apple,” she said. She laughed at his horrified look. “Or named after the place where the child was conceived. Just look at David Beckham and Posh Spice’s Brooklyn.” Their minds went back to Texas. Katie could see
Darío
’s thoughts were the same as hers. “Irving
Luna
,” they said together, laughing.

He nudged the milk toward her. “Drink,” he said, still laughing. He got up and headed toward the bathroom.

She took a sip of milk. “So, Irving for a boy,” she teased. “We haven’t discussed girls’ names.”

He turned toward her, his hand on the doorknob. “Well, that does not need to be discussed.” At her questioning look, he smiled and said, “She has been
Peaches
to me from the very first.”

Chapter
Eighteen

One minute you’re bleeding. The next minute you’re hemorrhaging.

The next minute you’re painting the Mona Lisa.

- Mac O’Grady
, golfer,
on a typical round of golf.

The next
week was
a whirlwind of days on the courses and nights in bed with
Darío
. She still was klutzy with
Darío
in bed, but she got better. And they practiced. A lot.

Their bodies relaxed, legs intertwined, arms around each other. Katie’s head on
Darío
’s chest. Hotel sounds of doors slamming and the occasional room service cart wheeling down the hallway were the only things they heard.

“Tell me about your father,” Katie said. She felt
Darío
’s chest stiffen under her hand. “Or, what you remember about your father.” His whole body tensed. She gently rubbed her hand across his chest, trying to infuse some of her warmth into him. “Please,” she whispered. She heard his sigh, felt his soft breath float across her hair.

“There’
s not much to tell. I remember nothing because he was never a part of our lives,”
Darío
said. Katie heard the leashed control in his voice. She hadn’t heard that tone since the night she’d gone to Memphis and asked
Darío
to give up all rights to his child.

Because of their child, she forged on. “Never? He didn’t leave you and your mother when you were young? Weren’t there any pictures of him around?”

His arm tightened around her, then loosened, his hand soothing
her skin. “You don’t understand. It wasn’
t a case of my parents being together and then my father leaving. They were never together. My mother…” He sighed again, heavier, making Katie’s hair flutter across her nose.
Darío
brushed it back behind her ear.

“When I was older, when I wanted to find out who my father was…I asked the women where my mother worked. They said they’d never seen her as much
as
speak to any men in the club, let alone spend
enough
time with one to become pregnant.”

“Maybe they were protecting her?”

Darío
snorted. “Not those old bitches. They hated my mother. They would have loved to tell me who she was whore to.”

Katie gasped. “Is that what you think? That your mother is a whore?” She couldn’t fathom the thought. Her
own
mother seemed so…asexual to Katie, as any mother should.

Darío
’s legs shifted under her knee. “No, no of course not. That is what they thought. My mother is a saint. She raised me alone. She did the best she could. When she saw I had a talent for golf, she moved heaven and earth to find a way for me to play. She loved me and fed me, and in her eyes, I was no bastard.

“But, when I was in my teens, I didn’t know what to think. No one appreciates their parents as teenagers.”

Katie thought of the fights she and her mother had when she was a teen. The same fights Katie’s sisters-in-law were having with their teens now. “Yes, of course. What about your mother’s family? Were they any help to her while you were growing up?”